- Joined
- Mar 20, 2011
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Before you turn up your noses at this notion, please do read about my situation.
California-resident, non-URM male here. I am currently a SMP student at a highly competitive/intense 1-yr program (think Georgetown, Cincinnati etc.); I am doing OK but not superbly in this program, expecting to finish with around 3.7 by June. My second MCAT (first time was way back in 2010 with 30) is a 36 (13VR, 12PS, 11BS).
I do have extensive clinical, mentoring, shadowing, and public health experiences. Wide array of research too with 6 publications and one abstract. Also, have unique non-medical talent with significant awards and recognition. Letter of recs should be pretty solid.
Of course, the glaring weakness in my application is my horrid UG GPA of 3.25-3.3 (albeit with ridiculous upward trend at an UG institution that is consistently ranked top 5 in the nation)
I plan on applying this june VERY broadly (including California DO schools) and early.
Given my somewhat lacklustre performance in the SMP thus far (and of course, my godawful uGPA), I am starting to get quite worried about my chances at any school. The dean of admissions at the medical school of my SMP brought an idea of retaking my MCAT of 36, which is something I did not consider before. I would be taking it in July after I submit my applications (so schools might see pending when they do a first pass). Here are the pros and cons of retaking my MCAT, at least from my view.
Pros:
-I still believe I could have gotten much better than 36. I was scoring 14-15s on VR (I did receive 2400 on the SAT way back then), 11-13 on BS and PS on later AAMC tests. Particularly with the intense biology/physiology experience in the SMP, I feel confident I can raise my BS score, which happens to be the lowest. Less so for the PS and VR
-If i feel that i have performed anything but superbly on the day of test, i can void it, without too many consequences
-something that my admissions dean brought up: even if the schools just see that I am registered for it again, they might think that 1) i am really devoted to getting into med and 2)i am so capable that i think of improving from a 36
-raising the score to a 38+ would definitely make me a more compelling candidate overall... would it even provide me with a glimmer of hope at a lower-ranked california school (like those newly created UCs, loma linda, or DO)? probably not, but at worst, it would help my chances overall, including the host medical school at my SMP and other OOS schools
Cons:
-36 is obviously a solid score and it would be quite easy to score below it, which would be very bad indeed.
-the timing is bit awkward; schools might see this score in time.. or they might not.
-it's gonna be tough studying for MCATs right after I submit my AMCAS and completion of SMP. I only have 1 month and I know that I might have to work on secondaries too in this time period.
-the obvious time and money commitment required
-even if I do improve the overall score by one or two points, would that really make a difference (I guess this is the real question that needs to be answered)?
California-resident, non-URM male here. I am currently a SMP student at a highly competitive/intense 1-yr program (think Georgetown, Cincinnati etc.); I am doing OK but not superbly in this program, expecting to finish with around 3.7 by June. My second MCAT (first time was way back in 2010 with 30) is a 36 (13VR, 12PS, 11BS).
I do have extensive clinical, mentoring, shadowing, and public health experiences. Wide array of research too with 6 publications and one abstract. Also, have unique non-medical talent with significant awards and recognition. Letter of recs should be pretty solid.
Of course, the glaring weakness in my application is my horrid UG GPA of 3.25-3.3 (albeit with ridiculous upward trend at an UG institution that is consistently ranked top 5 in the nation)
I plan on applying this june VERY broadly (including California DO schools) and early.
Given my somewhat lacklustre performance in the SMP thus far (and of course, my godawful uGPA), I am starting to get quite worried about my chances at any school. The dean of admissions at the medical school of my SMP brought an idea of retaking my MCAT of 36, which is something I did not consider before. I would be taking it in July after I submit my applications (so schools might see pending when they do a first pass). Here are the pros and cons of retaking my MCAT, at least from my view.
Pros:
-I still believe I could have gotten much better than 36. I was scoring 14-15s on VR (I did receive 2400 on the SAT way back then), 11-13 on BS and PS on later AAMC tests. Particularly with the intense biology/physiology experience in the SMP, I feel confident I can raise my BS score, which happens to be the lowest. Less so for the PS and VR
-If i feel that i have performed anything but superbly on the day of test, i can void it, without too many consequences
-something that my admissions dean brought up: even if the schools just see that I am registered for it again, they might think that 1) i am really devoted to getting into med and 2)i am so capable that i think of improving from a 36
-raising the score to a 38+ would definitely make me a more compelling candidate overall... would it even provide me with a glimmer of hope at a lower-ranked california school (like those newly created UCs, loma linda, or DO)? probably not, but at worst, it would help my chances overall, including the host medical school at my SMP and other OOS schools
Cons:
-36 is obviously a solid score and it would be quite easy to score below it, which would be very bad indeed.
-the timing is bit awkward; schools might see this score in time.. or they might not.
-it's gonna be tough studying for MCATs right after I submit my AMCAS and completion of SMP. I only have 1 month and I know that I might have to work on secondaries too in this time period.
-the obvious time and money commitment required
-even if I do improve the overall score by one or two points, would that really make a difference (I guess this is the real question that needs to be answered)?
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